Steering-knuckle



L. E. HOWELL.

STEERING KNUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED 050.23. 1919.

1,356,984. Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

2 SHEETS--SHEET I.

L. E. HOWELL.

- STEERING KNUCKLE. APPLlCATlON FILED DEC 23. 1919.

Patented 002;. 55%}, 1 920.

2 SHEEI '1 "SHEET 2- LORENZO E. HOWELL, OE FARMIN'GTON, ILLINOIS.

STEERING-KNUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

Application filed December 23, 1919. Serial No. 346,813.

T 0 all w from it may concern:

Be it known that I, LORENZO E. HOWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Farmington, in the county of Fulton and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steering- Knuckles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in steering knuckles for motor vehicles and has for its primary object the provision of means whereby shocks and jars caused by the wheels passing over unv even roadway will be absorbed, thereby re-' lieving the strain and work of the main or regular springs of the vehicle and to provide a much smoother riding vehicle and also increase the life of the vehicle or the parts thereof.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a steering knuckle of the above stated character, which shall be simple, durable and efficient, and which may be manufactured and sold at a comparatively low cost.

WVith these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in cer tain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed. 7

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description, and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a steering knuckle constructed in accordance with my invention, I

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l,

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of, the spindle sleeve and hanger having the spring secured thereto, r i

Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the means of securing one end of the hanger to the spring,

Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating the attachment of the other end of the spring to the hanger, V

Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the supports,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a v modified form of my invention. 7

Referring in detail to the drawings the numeral 1 indicates one end of the front axle of a motor vehicle which is forked to form the upper and lower arms 2 and which are connected by the usual bolt 3. A sleeve e 4 is slidably mounted on the bolt 3 and is provided with vertical races to receive ball bearings 5 to permit free rotation and vertical sliding motion of the sleeve on the bolt 3. The sleeve 4 has formed integrally therewith the spindle 6 on which is adapted to be journaled a wheel. -A hanger 7 is formed integrally with the sleeve 4 and is provided with spaced screw threaded sockets 8 and an opening 9 adapted to receive the usual steering arm 10. The ends of the sleeves 4 are closed by caps 11 provided with screw threaded portions 12 that are thread-- ed into the ends of the sleeves and said caps are provided with openings to permit them to slide freely on the bolts 3 with the sleeves. The screw threaded portions of the caps are recessed to receive packing 13 adapted to form a dirt-proof connection between the caps and the bolts thereby obviating any danger of foreign matter from entering the sleeves and interfering with their movement on the bolts.

A semi-elliptical spring 14 is secured upon the seat or hanger 7 by a clip 15 and said spring extends at right angles to the spindle 6. The clip 15 is detachably secured to the hanger or seat 7 by bolts threaded into the screw threaded sockets 8 and one end of the spring has pivotally connected thereto a link 16 adapted to be pivotally connected to one end of a spring hanger 17. The spring receive the bolt 3 adjacent its upper end and is seated upon a support 18 formed on the 1 bolt 3 and said spring hanger extends at right angles to the spindle 6 and laterally of the spring 14 and has its ends 19 curved to aline with the ends of the spring and one of said endsis forked as illustrated at 20 and pivotally connected to one end of the spring 14: while the other curved end 19 is pivotally connected to the link 16, thus, it

will be seen that the sleeve is'cushionly supported on the bolt 3 by means of the spring 1d connected to the ends of the hangers 17 and any shocks and jars transmitted to the spindle 6 by the wheel passingover uneven ground, the sleeve will move upwardly and downwardly on the bolt 3 against the tension of the spring 14; thus absorbing the shocks and jars to the vehicle carried by the axle. The support 18 is provided with an annular cushioning member 21 for the pur pose of protecting the sleeve in case of severe shock or in case of the spring 14 breaking. A disk 22 is secured to the lower end of the bolt 3 and has an annular cushioning member 23 adapted to protect the sleeve in case said sleeve is moved downwardly below a given point by severe shock or breaking of the spring. 7 Y

The sleeve A is provided with a lubricating cup 24: so that the ball bearings can be readily supplied with lubricant.

Referring to my modified form of invention, the seat 7 on the sleeve A has secured thereto a hanger 25 which has spaced lugs 26 to which coil springs 27 are secured. A hanger 28 overlies the hanger 25 and is secured to the support 18 on the bolt 3 and said hanger 28 has spaced lugs 29 to which the springs 27 are secured, thus it will be seen that the sleeve 4 is cushionly supported.

Vhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A steering knuckle including an axle having spaced arms, a bolt connecting said arms, a spindle sleeve on said bolt, a hanger secured to said bolt and having curved ends, a spring seat formed on said sleeve, a spring secured to said seat and having its ends pivotally connected to the curved ends of the hangers.

2. A steering knuckle including an axle having spaced arms, a bolt connecting said arms, a spindle sleeve slidable and rotatable on said bolt, a spring seat formed integrally with the sleeve, a hanger seat secured to the bolt, a hanger secured to said han er seat and having its ends curved, a semi-elliptical i spring detachably secured to the spring seat and having its ends pivotally connected to the curved ends of the hanger.

3. A steering knuckle including an axle having spaced arms, a bolt connecting said arms, a spindle sleeve slidable on said bolt, a hanger secured to said sleeve, a second hanger secured to said bolt and springs secured to said hangers. i

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LORENZO E. HOWELL.

Witnesses CLYDE L. HITCHCOCK, JOHN W. ABBOTT. 

